Forty Years of Research in Design Management: A Review of Literature and Directions for the Future

Brigitte Borja De Mozota,Fabiane Wolff

doi:10.4013/sdrj.2019.121.02

Abstract

Defining the research in Design Management (DM) involves the intersection of two disciplines: management sciences and design sciences. We focus on design management research and summarize the diversity of the relationship between these two interdisciplinary fields through a study of the international literature published between 1977 and 2017 on the subject. Firstly, the hybrid territory of design management is defined through its keywords and their evolution; using various definitions of design management, a representation of the place of design within organizations then starts to emerge. Secondly, the analysis focuses on the five key themes of design management developed in the literature— the value of design, the methods and skills of design, the tools of design, its integration in other functions, and the theme of “better manager by design”—as well as the resulting models. Finally, this review of the literature highlights the emergence in the discourse of two complementary forces: design management and design leadership.

Highlights

This article aims at showing the emergence of Design Management (DM) through the main theories published on the subject between 1977 and 2017
Our approach is first educational—to make it easier for management to accept and understand design, and vice versa, management by design: “The function of design in a manufacturing company must be a primary responsibility of management” (Archer, 1969), and to help future DM researchers with an international perspective
One first paper was published in French (Borja de Mozota, 2018) and two other papers with different/local perspectives are being published, based on the main work

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This article aims at showing the emergence of Design Management (DM) through the main theories published on the subject between 1977 and 2017. As well as the management of a visual system for the company (products, services, documents, spaces) and the coherence of all the disciplines of design around a brand design strategy (Borja de Mozota, 1990); a process of managing change to create efficient companies as well as good products (Gunz, 1990); management principles which makes a commitment to “good design” a crucial stake during meetings (Bernsen, 1990). To help reach the company’s goals or to improve growth, understanding Design Management is the implementation of design as a formal program of activity in a company by communicating its pertinence when it comes to the company’s long-term goals, and by coordinating design resources to all the levels of decision to reach the company’s goals (Borja de Mozota, 2002) and for economic growth, as sustained by DMI. The experience of inserting design in an organization, or DM, is one of the forecast theories we can foresee in the future and is discussed in the third session of this paper

KEY THEMES OF DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Design methods and skills

DESIGN MANAGEMENT MODELS

CONCLUSION